Colorado star Travis Hunter highlights 4 Heisman Trophy winners for 2024 season
The 2024 Heisman Trophy winners were announced Monday, with the top two officially tied.
Colorado star Travis Hunter and two-time running back Ashton Jeanty are considered the two favorites to win the award, while linebacker Dillon Gabriel of Oregon and Cam Ward of Miami round out the quartet.
This has been an exciting college football season in the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff. But while his Buffaloes won't play for a national title, Hunter's efforts alongside potential first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders, led to a successful season for Colorado.
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Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Hunter is a heavy favorite to win the Heisman, as he does something that is rare in college football: play on both sides of the ball.
Hunter played full time on offense and defense, and finished in the top five in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and passes defensed. Pro Football Focus also gave him a top coverage grade this season as well.
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Offensively, Hunter had 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns over 12 games, averaging 96.0 yards through the air per game. And on defense, he defended 11 passes while collecting four interceptions and 32 combined tackles in the same set of games.
Despite Hunter being the heavy favorite, it was simply fun to watch Jeanty lead the Broncos all the way to the Mountain West Conference title while earning a bye to the College Football Playoff as the No. 3 seed.
Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (Photos by Brian Losness-Imagn)
Jeanty led college football in rushing yards (2,497), rushing touchdowns (29), total touchdowns (30) and rushing attempts (344) as the Broncos' offense transitions to a junior, who is also believed to be the first to arrive. April.
His argument for winning the award over Hunter is the fact that he took a Group of Five school to a CFP bye in his historic season. If he breaks Barry Sanders' record for most runs (2,628), who knows how the polls should turn out.
But there is only one No. 1 seed. 1 this year in the CFP, and Gabriel's Ducks are no exception as his sixth collegiate season has resulted in top-notch production.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Gabriel had 3,558 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns on 297 attempts in the air to help the Ducks to an undefeated 13-0 regular season.
The Hawaiian native's best performance came with No. 2 Ohio State, where he had 341 passing yards and three total touchdowns, proving that Oregon was the winningest team in the Big Ten in its first season in the conference. Oregon went on to beat Penn State to win the Big Ten, and is now looking at an undefeated season with a national title included.
Ward, another potential first-round pick in 2025, is as cool and collected as a quarterback can be in the pocket, which has led to many of the Hurricanes' come-from-behind victories this season.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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He's also a college football hot story, starting at Incarnate Word out of high school, his only offer, and eventually leading college football with 36 passing touchdowns and finishing second with 4,123 passing yards this year.
Miami didn't make the CFP this year, but an argument can be made that Ward was the best quarterback in the game this season, which earned him a visit to New York.
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